Out of the films that were nominated for Best Picture last year, half of them weren’t worth watching. This year, all the nominees are at least pretty good. Most are excellent. Here’s what I have to say about them.
A Killers of the Flower Moon
There’s very little about indigenous people in Martin Scorsese’s recent movie. Besides, these are very wealthy Osage “Indians” who hit oil and should have had a very comfortable life. But the white men in the community (including Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio) set out to commit murder so that money will fall into white hands. Lily Gladstone plays the rich woman who falls for DiCaprio’s character and marries him.
A American Fiction
As a comedy and a drama, this is one of the best films of 2023. Jeffrey Wright stars as a literary author whose works don’t sell. Why? Because he’s black, and people expect violent ghetto stories from a black writer. But when his mother is diagnosed with dementia, he suddenly needs a lot of money. So, he writes a new novel about a thug, and sure enough, his book turns hot. One of the best things about this film is that a great deal of the picture allows us to enter the writer’s large, loving, but problematic family.
A The Holdovers
The trailer tells you that this is a comedy, but there are only occasional funny moments. This is a mostly serious drama, set in 1969, with young men avoiding the Vietnam draft. It follows three broken people set in and around a very expensive, all male, conservative, private middle school. First, there’s the history professor (Paul Giamatti), who seems to hate all his students, and they all hate him back. Dominic Sessa plays a student with serious problems related to his mother’s new marriage. Da’Vine Joy Randolph plays the school’s cook. Her son died in combat, and she is now connected to the school for life.
A Barbie
The movie starts with a sequence that brings a major belly laugh…if you’re a serious cinephile. Still, it ends with a scene that’s absolutely perfect. In between, there’s a feminist, pastel, fantasy comedy universe unlike any other I’ve ever seen. A few scenes sag in the middle, but not for long. It’s amazing that Mattel allowed the filmmakers – Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach – to make the movie. The stars, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, seem to be both human and molded plastic. I suspect that the film works very well with adults and children.
A Poor Things
Here’s another film like nothing you’ll ever see. It’s something of a Frankenstein story, set in a fantasy version of 1800s Europe. Emma Stone plays the beautiful, sexy young creation, trying not to be placed into a glass globe. Willem Dafoe plays the scientist who created her, and Mark Ruffalo plays a debauched lawyer named Duncan Wedderburn. Yes, there’s a lot of sex and nudity here, but it works with the story.
A- Maestro
Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic is clearly a work of love. Cooper directed the film, played the main character, and co-wrote the screenplay. Bernstein became famous when New York Philharmonic conductor Bruno Walter got sick, and the young Bernstein was asked to fill in…it sounds like a fairytale. But Bernstein’s marriage with Felicia Montealegre was problematic, mostly because of his sleeping with other men. His cigarette addiction killed him at 60.
A- Oppenheimer
J. Robert Oppenheimer was the brilliant physicist who led the creation of the first atom bomb test…the one that ended World War II. Basically, writer/director Christopher Nolan used IMAX to teach American history. A large part of the story deals with McCarthyism, when many Americans lost their jobs because of their political beliefs. Oppenheimer wasn’t a Communist, but some of his friends and relatives were, and that was enough to consider him a risk. Nolan told this story very well, but most of the film didn’t really need IMAX.
A- Past Lives
Warning: After watching Past Lives, you’ll probably want to look up an old flame on the Internet. Two Korean children experience childhood puppy love. As the years pass, Nora immigrates to Canada and then New York, where she marries a successful Jewish writer. (Nora is also a successful playwright.) Eventually, Nora brings her old flame to the Big Apple to meet someone she hasn’t seen in decades. This is a film with no villains, and yet these people can easily hurt others. Greta Lee plays Nora with a warm and loving smile. Teo Yoo and John Magaro also give wonderful performances. An exceptional film from writer/director Celine Song.
A- Anatomy of a Fall
A family man on a mountain chalet falls and dies. And that’s when things become difficult in this large, winter house. Was it murder or suicide? The members of the family have their own serious problems. The wife has had affairs. Their son is blind, and there are considerable legal issues. The film is set and shot in France, and much of the dialogue is in French – the rest is in English. This film is a showcase for excellent actors. Warning: The movie runs more than two and a half hours.
B The Zone of Interest
Here is a very calm Holocaust picture without any violence. It shows mostly the easy life of Rudolf Höss, the German officer who ran Auschwitz. It’s a desk job, doing the numbers of mass killing. Höss and his family are quite comfortable, and he appears to be a wonderful father. They have plenty of servants. But things don’t always go as they should. While wading in the river, Rudolf finds human teeth, and the water and air are filled with ash. But there’s no real story, and I think screenwriters Martin Amis and Jonathan Glazer couldn’t come up with a good ending.
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